


Patients

by MissingOneEye



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Angst, Blood, Character Death, Crazy, Developing Relationship, Disease, Eventual Smut, Gore, Implied Relationships, Insanity, Inspired by World War Z, Interviews, Love, M/M, Not actually zombies, Original Character(s), Pain, Past Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Rape/Non-con Elements, Violence, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:48:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7688599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissingOneEye/pseuds/MissingOneEye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The virus affects the brain causing the individual to lose all cognitive abilities including the ability to display personality, and their socially acceptable behavior. </p><p>The individual inflicted with this virus also displays signs of apathy and they often distance themselves from loved ones. </p><p>The virus tends to grow rapidly, consuming nearly all of the Amygdala, and causes the individual to become hostile and often violent toward those who approach them. </p><p>As of now, there is no known cure and it is unsure whether the virus can be removed surgically without permanently damaging the infected. </p><p>The virus, oddly enough, seems to be spread through bodily fluids such as blood, and if left alone the virus tends to fully consume the brain causing it to shut itself down leading to an inevitable comatose state. </p><p>It then kills the individual’s brain, rendering them a vegetable. </p><p>What happens after the individual has died, however, still remains a mystery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Finish

**Author's Note:**

> This is not how the entire story is going to go. These are interviews to get you hooked. The actually story will be in the eyes of the character, possibly similar to Interview With A Vampire rather than World War Z.

**[The home was rundown. It took a while to find the place, but I eventually did. The time is 2:30 am and the roads are looking rather empty. Still, I drive cautiously. You never know what could be lurking around out in the trees where you can’t quite see. The house itself is only one story, but it might have a basement. Most places in this area do. I drive up listening to the dirt crunch underneath the weight of my car’s tires. I can see the curtain open. Whoever’s inside knows that I’m here. I came here looking for a man named Peter Parker. I wanted to ask him a few questions, figure out more about the Fall. Slowly, I open my door and step out of the car. He’s done a good job of hiding himself that’s for sure. I walk toward the door, but it opens before I can officially knock. The man I see is thin. He’s about a head shorter than me and his head is full of brown curls. He looks exhausted, but after a skeptical look at me and then my car, he nods and lets me in.]**

**What was your life like before the Fall?**

Before the fall I was some average guy that worked as a reporter for a newspaper called the Daily Bugle. God, it was a shitty job, but I had bills to pay. I guess I don’t have to worry about that now.

**How did you find out about the disease that led to the Fall?**

How? Like I said, I worked for the Daily Bugle. Well, we’re suddenly hearing about this virus or something that’s spreading. It’s unheard of. It doesn’t have an official name. Actually, a few people in the office called it “Infection A”. I don’t really know why. I was a reporter. I wanted to know more. I wanted to get out there, figure out what the hell was going on, but instead John Jonah Jameson decides that it’s a great idea to just sit around and work on something that isn’t even related. He got what was coming to him, I guess. It just struck me as surprise.

**What was your reaction?**

I thought it was a joke. I honestly did. A disease going around infecting the brain? I mean, it was too soon. It just happened so fast and it was spreading so quickly. To jokingly call it a zombie apocalypse? It started to look like one. Bodies were piling up. You know that? It apparently eats away the brain until it kills you and there is nothing the doctors can do. They’ve tried. I remember reading somewhere that a doctor was attempting to find a cure. The disease was changing based on the individual. I don’t know what the hell it is. I don’t know who made it. I have no idea where it came from. **[He laughs and runs a hand through his hair.]** We thought we were on top of the food chain, but suddenly this parasite or this virus or whatever it might be is killing us from the inside out. It’s just inside our brains, affecting how we feel or react to pain. It’s killing our nerves. I don’t understand. I thought it was a joke. God, I was so wrong.

**How did you end up here?**

It was the only place I could find that was even remotely safe. I barely made it here. I had to kill someone. They…these people that are infected become so violent. They have this mentality that’s like “kill or be killed” and you just…you either defend yourself or you die. I didn’t want to die. I was afraid. It’s horrifying.

**When the Fall happened, how did you manage to survive?**

I don’t know. It was a miracle that I even made it here. I guess I should be thankful that it’s not airborne. I haven’t seen animals affected by it. You know what it is? It’s really like rabies for people. That’s what it is. Sometimes… **[He’s crying now, wiping at his eyes]** people have to be put down. **[He inhales and he’s shaking slightly]**

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

**[I stand in the uncut grass of a forest somewhere in Massachusetts. The exact location has been withheld by request. I’m looking for a man named Steve Rogers. His home was pretty easy to find, a poorly made electric fence surrounding the perimeter. The door to the gate creaks noisily in the wind, swaying back and forth. There are dead leaves covering the ground around me, my feet causing them to crunch as I approach the door steadfastly. I knock, the door opens, and a man with blond hair stares back at me, confused. After I explain who I am, he lets me in with open arms.]**

**What was it like to suddenly hear about this?**

The disease was like some poorly written zombie story you’d find on some teenager’s shelf. It was really hard to believe that something like this could actually exist. I mean, it’s not unheard of for diseases to change, or to adapt, or to even feed on the brain. This disease was all of those things on just such a larger scale. It was just creating vegetables and killing people left and right. It was like another plague that really didn’t show any outside signs. I guess that’s not complete correct. The only real telltale signs were behaviors and the lack thereof. These people, these individuals that were infected became of shell of their past selves, so to speak, and in many cases became extremely hostile toward everyone in their immediate environment. When I heard about it of course I didn’t want to believe it. Of course I was terrified. It could affect almost anyone. I heard rumors, sometime later, that there was an underground group that caused the disease as an act of terrorism. I also heard that that same underground group had cures and didn’t actually cause it. I heard that it was the wrath of God. I heard that it was the end of the world. I didn’t know what to believe and frankly, I was starting to believe a little bit of everything.

**Wasn’t there an underground group that was actually creating vaccines?**

That was another theory or whatnot. It was believed that these people were making vaccines to fight these people that weren’t necessarily people. So many people were just trying to avoid them. The disease would eventually kill the carrier and if people weren’t getting affected by it, it was thought that the disease would just kind of falter and disappear. I think it was just people being hopeful. Maybe it would have actually died out if people just stayed still. These people…they were looking for something to look forward to. In some cases, it was actually reported that the Infected were still intelligent and went out of their way to hurt people.

**How did you hear about these theories and reports?**

No one was really publishing anymore, but in a nearby town to where I was staying I discovered notes pinned to a board. You know? The type of board you’d find news updates on, or Town Hall meeting events on. It had a letter written on it. It seemed like so many people were pitching in, writing their experiences. I wasn’t sure if any of them were still alive. I wrote a few words. Risked my neck to check it later. Sure enough, someone replied. I called it “The Board”. People were constantly writing comments. That’s actually how I met up with a few of them. How long did The Board last? I don’t recall actually. It lasted for a while, but I stopped participating on it when I met up with Natasha and Clint. They were also a part of The Board and we agreed to meet one day.

**Where are they now?**

I don’t know where Natasha is, but Clint’s dead. He didn’t make it. I remember that event. There was a lot of screaming. **[He slams his hand on the table, making me jump]** I could hear him pounding on the door, trying to get it. He was trying to open the door. I saw the doorknob move and Natasha was panicking. It was horrifying and I honest to God thought I was going to die right there. The door was cracking under his weight. He didn’t have the right mind to know that he was hurting himself. He just continued to hit the door. We were trapped in the room with nowhere else to go. He just kept hitting the wood and we could see it screaming in protest. “Open the door”, he growled at us. He could talk. A lot of them could. But they weren’t themselves. He wasn’t Clint. He was whatever the disease made him out to be, and that wasn’t Clint. “OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” Well, Nat decided that she had to do something. She did. She had to kill him and he was her best friend. She was extremely brave. I don’t know where she is now, but I’m sure she’s still alive. Still hurting from what happened.


	2. THE START

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The doctors see it. Something is wrong with Patient Zero. 
> 
> How is it possible?
> 
> Nothing like this should be able to happen, but here it goes. Here it occurs and the doctors are in shock. What could have led to this medical phenomenon? 
> 
> Where did this thing come from, this disease? 
> 
> Can God save them or has he given up listening...
> 
> ...because God help them all.

“Time of death, 3:30 pm.” 

No one knew what it was when it first arrived. 

It was strange and didn’t look like to anything they’d seen before.

The doctors weren’t sure if it was some sort of bacteria, a virus, or maybe just a disease. 

The differences and similarities were there, but at the same time none of that meant anything. 

The first victim, the Patient Zero, was contained as whatever it was ate away at the tissue of his brain. 

The doctors all watched. 

They tried to do something, they really did, but it wasn’t working. 

It actually seemed like the “disease” was reacting to their attempts and adapting right before their eyes. 

What could they have done?

Patient Zero died on the operating table. 

But, at the same time, he didn’t. 

His brain was dead, his nerves were fried, but his heart was still pounding away inside his chest. 

That wasn’t unusual.

People died this way all the time, usually because of massive amounts of head trauma. 

Bruce Banner was one of the doctors on staff that day.

He watched this disease shape and form, adapt to everything my colleagues did, and it almost felt alive. 

Dying because your brain shutdown isn’t uncommon.

What is uncommon is getting up after such a thing happens.

Patient Zero did. 

Dr. Banner watched with horror through the glass as the Patient stood, head lolling to the side uselessly. 

The man, the one previously assumed dead, stood there for a moment as though he were listening.

Bruce couldn’t believe it. The man couldn’t be **listening** , but the Patient didn’t dare move a muscle until he was sure the room was empty, until he heard not a sound. A Code White wasn’t enough after that, after what happened next. The doctors present in the surgery were equally startled by what occurred. There was no activity on the monitors, nothing but his beating heart. The doctors already knew the Patient had been a lost cause. Bruce especially knew the man was dead before he even got to the table to be operated on. There was nothing anyone could do. But, that same man stood there now in the center of the room where he was pronounced dead. He would have seemed alive and well if it weren’t for the previous observation. The doctors had followed protocol. They had waited six hours for any sign of activity just to be sure that they weren’t declaring death on a living man. There was nothing. No sign of a single twitch. Now, that man stood completely still behind the glass of the room the interns watched from and everyone couldn't help but stare, mouths gaping wide, eyes bulging in horror. Medical school didn't prepare any of them for this. Bruce was shocked, through and through. Never in all his years as being a doctor had he ever seen something do strange. 

What happened after that…Bruce still didn’t know. Everything happened so suddenly 

He remembered the screaming, the sound of glass breaking. He remembered the panicking, but he must have hit his head on the way out. The room spun around him momentarily and then he was plunged into darkness. The inner voice inside his head was shouting at him to wake up. Bruce needed to wake up. He couldn't get his eyes open no matter how hard he tried. He heard his inner voice yelling that he was dead, he was dying. He must have been. That was the only explanation he could think of. 

But, he heard another voice. He recognized it, but it wasn't his own.

"Dr. Banner? Dr. Banner!" 

He felt something cool touch the skin of his forehead and groaned. Just like that, the lights up above were blinding him as he opened his eyes. His head was killing him. It felt like a spike had been driven through his skull via the track of his eye sockets. He squeezed his eyes closed and heard another groan escape his lips. His own voice frightened him, but he said nothing. He felt something nudge his shoulder, gently shaking him. He was lying on the freezing tile of the observation room. He had been watching the surgery with the interns. It was all coming back to him slowly, invading his peace of mind. It was unnerving because it felt like there was something he was neglecting to remember. 

"Dr. Banner? Are you alright? Don't move so suddenly. It appears that you've hit your head..."

"...Dr. Maximoff?" 

"Yes sir, yes sir it's me. Rest your head now. I've checked for a concussion. You're lucky. You aren't seriously hurt, but any head wound is a concern. Please don't move so suddenly, you'll hurt yourself."

He remembered Dr. Maximoff well. Her first name was Wanda and Bruce could recall having thought she was rather young to be in the medical field, though he never once thought that she was incapable. It was exactly the opposite actually because he distinctly remembered thinking she made a rather fine doctor. He sighed and did as she directed, failing to resist the urge to smile. He felt the cool surgical gloves gently pressing against his skin. She was checking for anything of more immediate concern. 

"What happened", he asked, voice husky as he tried to ignore the searing pain in his head. 

"That patient that was brought in...what was his name? Patient Zero?"

"...his name was...oh God...I can't remember that right now. What about him?"

"He seems to have...gotten loose. No one knows where he went. It was all so sudden and..."

"And?"

"A few people were bit by him, but other than that...I don't think anyone was seriously injured. The ones that got bit have gone to get sutures." 

"Stitches? How many?"

"Oh, I don't know that right now."

"Why am I still here", he asked, slowly sitting up. Her hands assisted him, guiding him into an upright position. 

"I guess no one realized that you fell or something. There was a lot of startling things happening, so I don't blame them. I noticed you weren't around with everyone else, so I went to the last place I'd remembered you going. I'm glad I found you."

"Patient Zero left the hospital?"

"We've already informed the police and there's a full search going on through the hospital to make sure that he isn't still here. The police are looking for him outside. He couldn't have gone far. How is he...alive?"

"I don't know...I really don't."


End file.
